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Paul, a swevant of God and an aostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect
and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness -
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a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God,
who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,
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and at his appointed season he brought his world to light
through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.
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To Titus, my true son in our common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
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The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out
what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every townas I directed you.
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An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose
children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
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Since an overeseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless -
not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to deunkenness, not violent,
not pursuing dishonest gain.
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Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good,
who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.
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He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught,
so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those
who oppose it.
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For those are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers,
especially those of the circumcision group.
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They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households
by teaching things they ought not to teach - and that for the sake of
dishonest gain.
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Even one of their own prophets has said,
"Creators are always liars, evil brutes, lazt gluttons."
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This restimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply,
so that they will be sound in the faith
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and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or
to the commands of those who reject he truth.
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To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted
and do not believe, nothing is pure.
In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
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They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.
They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
